Eye of the God (14 page)

Daniel Wallace had spent the majority of his career working security management as a naval officer assigned to the State Department. After retiring from the Navy at the age of thirty-eight, he took a job as head of the Smithsonian Office of Protection and was charged with the oversight of security for all Smithsonian facilities. Twenty years of wiretapping, terrorist surveillance, and special operations had piqued his appetite for adventure, and he was pleasantly surprised with the level of intensity in this government position. So it was with keen anticipation that he leaned over Marshall's shoulder and attempted to discover the identity of the stranger on his turf.

“Which security team is closest to the Server Room?” Daniel asked, running a finger over the master list of teams on duty.

“That would be Security One. They're on the first floor, but on the other side of the wing.”

“Send them to check it out. Now.”

Marshall tapped into the security communications system. “Control to Security One.”

A few seconds later came the reply. “Security One.”

“We have a disturbance in the Server Room. How close are you?”

“Less than five minutes away.”

“Check it out and report back.”

“Yes, sir.”

Isaac's black box contained a flash drive, a small keypad, and a six-inch video display. He pulled a smaller black pouch from his pocket that held a razor blade, a pair of wire strippers, plastic ties, and black electrical tape. He used
the razor blade to cut the tie binding the mass of wires coming from the processor and let them dangle until he located a thick black cable that ran to the input plug. He stripped the plastic casing, exposing raw copper wire beneath. Isaac spliced the recorder to the exposed input wire and began typing on the small keypad. He inserted the flash drive into the recorder, pulled up the needed information on the video display, and recorded two years' worth of video surveillance. It only took three minutes. Then Isaac covered the exposed section with electrical tape and bound the loose wires with a plastic tie, just like he found it. Pleased with his work, Isaac slid the black box inside his uniform, turned off the lights, and left the room.

“There, sir.” Marshall pointed at the closed-circuit screen as it showed someone leaving the Server Room.

“Zoom in,” Daniel directed.

“It's just one of us,” Marshall said, looking at the gray uniform.

Daniel let out a disgusted snort. “If it were one of us, Marshall, he would have his own security badge and wouldn't have used Jacobs's. Now please do me a favor and zoom in on his face.”

The closed-circuit TV kept track of the stranger as he navigated the basement labyrinth. “I'm trying to get a close-up, sir, but he's got a cap on and keeps his head down.”

“He's a pro. Follow him. And alert all security teams. I want to know who this guy is.”

Marshall pressed his earpiece and spoke into the communications system. “Control to all security teams. We have a level one breach.”

Isaac headed for the service elevator, his window of opportunity shrinking with every second. He rounded a corner and saw the double steel doors before him. He swiped the security card through the scanner and waited for the elevator to descend from the floor above. The doors opened with a ping, and Isaac stepped inside.

“Okay, he's in the elevator now,” Marshall said. “We've got him. That elevator only goes back to ground level.”

“Get him on the cameras,” Daniel demanded. He leaned over the back of Marshall's chair and stared at the screen expectantly.

Marshall pounded his keyboard, directing the screens before him to register video feed from the service elevator on the ground floor. Five seconds later the doors slid open, revealing an empty elevator.

“What happened? Where'd he go?”

“I don't know, sir. We both saw him get in.”

“Well he obviously isn't there now,” Daniel shouted. “Find him!”

“I'm trying, sir, but he disappeared off the grid.”

“Okay, okay,” Daniel said, clicking his pen with increasing intensity. “He can't exit the building without using that card. Let me know when he scans it again.”

It took little effort for Isaac to raise the panel in the ceiling of the elevator and pull himself onto the roof as it rose. Just as the plans had shown, the service elevator only went to the ground floor, but the shaft above ran all the way to the second to allow room for maintenance. He steadied his balance as the elevator came to a stop, and then swung on to the metal service ladder. He scampered
up the rungs and scanned his card on the security console next to a steel door. The moment he slipped through, he bolted across the hall and into the stairwell.

“There!” shouted Marshall. “He used it. Looks like he's on the second floor outside the elevator maintenance shaft.”

“Clever,” Daniel hissed. “Get him on the screens now!”

“There's no one there,” Marshall said, frantically searching the area around the maintenance shaft.

“Pull back. Show me everyone within three hundred feet of that door.”

Marshall's fingers raced over the keyboard, as he utilized both motion sensors and video cameras to find three security guards in the vicinity. All three guards were of similar height and build. All were male, and all freely showed their faces to the security cameras as they patrolled the halls.

Daniel pressed his earpiece and leaned into the console. “Control to security three, second floor.” Both men stared at the screens as all three guards stopped. “Stop all security personnel on sight and apprehend Randy Jacobs.”

Due to fire codes the stairwell remained unlocked at all times. Isaac ran down one flight of stairs and then leaped over the rail, dropping ten feet to the floor below. He emerged on the first floor, near the employee entrance just as two guards were headed toward the exit.

“Heading home?” one guard asked as he heard Isaac approach from behind.

“Yeah. Long shift.”

The guard pulled his security badge and swiped it through the console. He swung open the door leading to the employee parking lot and motioned to Isaac. “After you.”

Isaac stepped through. “Thanks, man. Have a great night.”

“You, too.”

“We've lost him, Mr. Wallace.”

“How could we lose him? We just had three guys on the screen!”

“I know, sir, but they've all been crossed checked. The three on screen were Brian Petak, James Chavez, and Jason Randolph. We've lost our suspect.”